A Fallacy of Shadow
by Shades of Venom
Summary: My take on what happened right after the lights went out on Apprentice, pt.1


A Fallacy Of Shadows  
  
*I own nothing*  
  
Robin shivered and wrapped his arms around him. He tried to curl up against the wall to make himself disappear like  
Raven could do. But no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't pull it off. The clinging black and gold costume  
gave no warmth as it stuck to him suffocatingly. The left side was a brillant copper, the other was pitch black, it let no   
light in, let no light out.  
  
He shifted his weight and stared down at the floor. Shadows and whispers from unknown sources tumbled over him,  
in him, through him. They seemed so agonizingly loud that wanted to cover his ears and shriek, but he bit his lip to  
stop the sharp taste of screaming. If only he hadn't been caught up with discovering Slade, he might still be a Teen   
Titan, might still be able to fight for truth. But he let his anger overule him and his emotions.  
  
'Now I'm the bad guy.' he thought, looking at his hand , flexing and unflexing it.  
  
  
'I let the whole team down, everyone, especially StarFire.'  
  
He slammed his fist his fist against the stone wall, ignoring the pain that shot down to his elbow. Shoving aside the   
blood that trailed from his punctured lip, he stood and relaxed his sore muscles. Something beeped in a far away corner,  
yelling for his attention. Slowly, he stomped to the shady corner, farther into the dimness and to the annoying noise.  
Like a ghost risen from it's grave, the Robin costume rose out of the darkness a short time after he began to walk.  
  
It startled him to see it so suddenly, it made him stumble and grasp the wall, trying to get the wind back in him.  
The costume stared back, hung on it's pipe gallows where he had abandoned it. It resembled something familar, but lost in a  
reality that tumbled and jumbled in Robin's mind. Was this his? Why did seem so alien? Lightyears away he had worn it,   
fought for justice, lived, laughed, and loved.   
  
But now he was cold as steel, unfeeling like stone, uncaring like rain. Beep! Beep! he had almost forgotten the device.  
Opening the pouch, he felt inside. A small square object caught his attention and he lifted it out. His Communicator.  
Pushing the tiny red button, he waited for someone, anyone, to answer.  
  
  
"Robin? Are you there? Robin...?" Star's lone voice echoed around the empty cavern.   
  
  
"Oh, please, not now." Robin whispered to no one.  
  
  
The Boy Wonder had not been expecting her and his stance clearly showed it. His hands shook, his knees wobbled, and under-  
neath the tradmark mask, a tear was forming.   
  
"Robin please come in! Robin!" Her scratchy voice throbbed in him.   
It was obvious that she had been calling him for a lengthy period of time.   
  
Ever so quietly, he lifted reached for the device and brought it to his mouth, "I'm not a Titan anymore." He growled.  
  
  
"What? Robin, what do you mean? I do not understand!?"  
  
  
Star's voice was high and frantic. He hit a button that seemed to be the one to turn it off and layed it on the ground.  
  
  
"I'm not a Titan." he repeated to himself. "...Not a Titan..."   
  
  
Without warning, he shot a hand into the utlity belt and rumaged around. Robtically, he picked up the mircoscopic cutting  
knife, a weird look in his eyes. The communicator was still flicked on. The next sound StarFire heard was a deafening ripping  
noise, like an object was being severed to bits.  
  
"What is going on? Robin?" The Tamaran girl screamed, hoping nothing was happening to him.  
  
But in reality, it was the suit that had something going on with it. Robin has started with the badge. It was a sleek sable  
and had a golden R encased in it. Grabbing it firmly by the edges, he , clawed it off the seams. A gapping hole was left in it's  
place, staring at him uncertainly. All of a sudden, he cried out and clutched his chest, it was almost like cutting out his  
own heart. He gasped and swept a gloved hand over his sweaty forehead.  
  
Something in his told him to dispose of it, why? The gleaming knife shone radiantly in the shadows, gleaming with power,  
power to destroy. With a loud war cry, he shoved it into the chest of the costume and trailed down and off to the right. A  
large gash had devastated it far beyond repair.   
  
"Ahh!" Robin slammed the blade down again, sinking into a shoulder. A slash across the hip, below the knee, at the elbow.  
Again and again until he figured it was going to start to bleed. The green and red clothing hung in tatters, remants of the past.   
He flung the pieces of cloth up like confetti.   
  
Panting with all that effort, he jumped at a small noise.  
  
"Robin? Are you still in a state of well being? What was that noise? Robin?" She began to cry, soft tears falling.  
  
He wished greatly that he could answer, but his throat didn't seem to work properly. Robin slunk to his knees, the knife   
slipped from his hands and clattered to the ground. The fearless leader of the Teen Titans, comrade of Batman, began to cry.  
His shoulders slumped as StarFire began to wail, unable to keep her despondency in check. He glanced at the electronic  
device a few feet from him.   
  
It seemed so little and insignificant, how could such a huge noise come from it? He took in hs hand where it weighed heavily  
with regret and longing. Again he brought it to his lips, but now tenderly kissed it. On the other end, Star was reduced to  
whimpering uselessly.   
  
He gripped the contraption tighly in his hand and tossed it across the room. He listened with stunned attetion at the sound of the  
object shattering, spewing it's metal componets all over the unforgiving floor. It's guts spilled out and sprawled and rolled  
around like mice released from their cages.  
  
Turning away from the mess, Robin continued to sob, with only the darkness to console him. 


End file.
